Government

QUARTERLY STATISTICAL NEWS BULLETIN

The Quarterly Statistical News Bulletin for December 2016, covers the period October to December 2016, and contains updates for the annual rate of inflation of the Retail Price Index, Estimated Population and Passenger Arrivals.

Annual inflation of the St Helena Retail Price Index (RPI) stood at 4.7 per cent in Quarter 4 2016 – up by 1.5 percentage points from the previous quarter and 4.0 percentage points from the same period in 2015. The main upward pressures come from the ‘Food’, ‘Fuel & Light’ and ‘Transport’ categories, with increases on specific goods within the ‘Food’ category contributing 2.8 percentage points towards the headline rate of inflation.

In the fourth quarter of 2016, the number of people on-Island averaged 4,550 and the average St Helenian population was 4,132. Compared to the same period in 2015, this is a 2.5 and 1.3 percent decrease respectively. With 35 births and 45 deaths recorded for January – December 2016, migration continues to be the largest driver of population growth, ultimately resulting in a natural population decrease.

During the financial year to date (April – December 2016), there was an 11 per cent decline in total passenger arrivals to St Helena. There was also a notable decline (21 per cent) in RMS arrivals, particularly in the ‘Business’ category, compared to the same period in 2015/16. However, there were also fewer RMS visits during this period so this should be taken into account. The completion of the Airport Construction Project could also be contributing to the reduced Business arrivals by the RMS – with Airport partners now preferring to transport their workforce and other staff via the timely air transportation system.